Chapter 30: The Power of Ice

“Li Ping?” Yan Yan pronounced each syllable carefully. Li Ping nodded, “Yes, and you? What is your name?”
“My name? What is it? What is my name?” The more Yan Yan tried to remember, the more her head throbbed. She could not recall her name at all; the images that rose in her mind were blurry and indistinct.
“I can't remember who I am. What is my name? Can you tell me?”
Her head suddenly ached terribly. Li Ping hurriedly gathered her into his arms, comforting her softly, “Don’t force yourself if you can’t remember. Let’s start anew, begin a new life.”
He gently stroked her hair, trying to soothe her fear. Yan Yan gradually stopped trembling, docilely allowing him to hold her. She felt a faint warmth, a subtle familiarity.
“You… you can tell me, what is my name?”
“Yan Yan.” She heard Li Ping say the name, and repeated it several times to commit it to memory, then added, “Thank you.”
“No need to thank me, it’s what I ought to do.”
“Though I don’t know who you used to be to me, I can sense we had a close bond—you were someone very important.”
“Yes, very important.”
After a long while, she fell asleep, and Li Ping remained by her side. Du Bin and the others returned from the police station after giving their statements.
“Yan Yan sleeps so peacefully. But does she truly not remember us?” Qin Ling asked, incredulous.
Li Ping replied with certainty, “Yes, she’s lost her memory. But at least, it’s a kind of release.”
“In this way, the pain of the past won’t torment her so deeply, and she won’t feel guilty. At least she won’t know the truth. Well, it’s time for me to go.” Qin Ling said, turning to leave. She got into a Maserati, where Zeng Yilong had been waiting for some time, and soon they drove off.

In the hospital, Du Bin seemed to notice Li Ning’s expression and asked in confusion, “Why are you staring at me like that?”
She remembered the moment he had carried her in his arms and was instantly irritated. She turned away, slamming the door with force, leaving him baffled.
“Du Bin, I know there are things I shouldn’t say, but you’ve hidden so much from me. Don’t you think it’s time to reveal some secrets?” Li Ping lit a cigarette, gazing at him meaningfully, making Du Bin uneasy. He hurried to explain, “Don’t misunderstand. Nothing happened between your sister and me.”
“Seriously? You’ve been eyeing his sister for so long!” Hu Guozheng wore a look of disdain. To think that Du Bin’s romantic escapades had occurred right under his nose, and he hadn’t known a thing.
Li Ping wiped sweat from his brow. He had hoped to coax Du Bin into discussing the necklace, but Du Bin misunderstood, thinking he meant his relationship with Li Ping’s sister. “Uh… you and my sister… Actually, that’s not what I meant.”
“Then what are you talking about?” Du Bin guessed his intent, feigning ignorance.
Hu Guozheng, thinking himself clever, blurted out, “You idiot, he’s talking about the necklace!”
Du Bin wanted to throttle him. Though Li Ping was a close friend, Du Bin had promised someone not to mention her. To break that promise would be a betrayal.
Seeing Du Bin’s discomfort, Li Ping didn’t press further. “Haha, my sister’s sometimes stubborn, but if you two were together, she might change for you. If you really end up together, I wouldn’t object—after all, you once said you wanted to be my brother-in-law.”
Even Li Ping was teasing him now; Du Bin felt as if he couldn’t clear his name no matter what. None of them realized that Li Ning, who had left and returned, stood outside the door, listening intently for Du Bin’s response. But he remained silent, pouting as she turned away, “Who needs you, you lecher? I have plenty of admirers.”
After Zeng Yilong escorted Qin Ling to the holiday villa, he and YOYO drove to the nearby Xu family mansion. On the way, they had to pass through a dense forest. As they neared the middle, several shadows flashed out from the trees, launching an attack on the Maserati. Just as the assault was about to reach the car, a surge of icy power blocked all incoming strikes.
Zeng Yilong slammed on the brakes and said, “It seems they knew we were coming for revenge and sent people to ambush us. Let’s make it quick.”
YOYO nodded, leapt from the car, and unleashed her icy powers. Before her, a wall of ice rose, stopping another wave of attacks. Facing two failed assaults, the attackers grew hesitant.
They switched from ranged attacks to close combat. Facing six modified humans was a trivial challenge for her. YOYO murmured an incantation, gathering power in her hands, which then transformed into a frozen sword.

One man threw a punch. YOYO ducked and swept the sword sideways, slicing his chest with the ice blade. He clutched his wound, exclaiming, “What a sharp sword!”
His injury quickly healed. Zeng Yilong was surprised, “I never imagined Old Xu had advanced his research to the point of combining human and vampire genes. I clearly underestimated him.”
Their self-healing ability was impressive, able to regenerate endlessly. YOYO, despite her advantage, remained cautious. “If your regenerative ability is so strong, let’s see how you handle severed limbs.”
Her ice sword shattered. She pressed her hands together, chanting, as waves of cold swirled around her. The ground beneath her feet spread with frost. When the spell ended, she raised one hand skyward. The frozen earth split open, unleashing countless sharp ice spikes. Within their range, the enemies were impaled, their bodies bloody and torn.
YOYO traced a circle in the air with her raised hand. The spikes shattered, each explosion echoing through the forest, blowing apart the modified humans.
As the crystalline shards fell, Zeng Yilong murmured in admiration, “Such pure, sparkling ice crystals—truly beautiful.”
The last remaining modified human, terrified, tried to flee, but YOYO swiftly dispatched him. Against her overwhelming power, the attackers fell one by one.
Inside the mansion, Xu Guojun watched as his trusted henchmen were annihilated in the blink of an eye and began to panic. All he could think of was escape. He knew Zeng Yilong would never let him go, regretting his reckless experiments that had provoked someone even Ma Jinlong couldn’t withstand.
Before he could react, YOYO had arrived. She unleashed her zero-degree breath on the villa, and within seconds, the entire mansion became a frozen sculpture, with not a single survivor inside.
Zeng Yilong gazed at the ice palace and gave a cold laugh before leaving. Moments later, the villa erupted in a massive explosion.

The next morning, Qin Ling awoke to the sound of snoring beside her. She grinned mischievously and carefully reached out to pinch his nose. Just as she was about to succeed, Zeng Yilong rolled over and pulled her into his arms, their faces only three centimeters apart.
The closeness made her blush involuntarily. Each time she tried to move away, he followed, matching her movements. As she grew flustered, he opened his eyes with a wicked smile. Qin Ling realized she was being teased. She began to scold him, but he quickly silenced her with a kiss.
She was stunned, unsure whether to be angry or to cry. Since the day she had been with him, it seemed inevitable that she would be utterly conquered. Try as she might, she could not stay angry. After all, she loved this man. The rest, needless to say, was a passionate tumble between the sheets.